Republic of Ireland 2 Poland 0: Dublin delight for Trap as Clark and Hoolahan do the damage

Ciaran Clark and Wes Hoolahan scored their first senior international goals to hand the Republic of Ireland a morale-boosting victory over Poland.

Aston Villa defender Clark thumped home a 35th-minute shot to give Ireland the lead against the run of play, before Norwich midfielder Hoolahan - who had received warm applause when he was introduced as a second-half replacement for Shane Long - cemented victory 14 minutes from time with an accomplished finish.

The scoreline perhaps flattered Giovanni Trapattoni's men, who were decidedly second-best before the break.

However, goalkeeper David Forde
responded to the challenge of being brought into the starting line-up
with a series of important saves to keep them in it. And, as the game
wore on, the hosts grew in confidence and finished strongly to remind
their fans of the heady days before a disastrous Euro 2012 campaign when
they were difficult to beat.

The Italian will restore his tried and
tested players to the starting line-up for next month's crucial World
Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Austria, but will do so confident that
his options appear to have increased.

Ireland's Polish community turned out
in force, mirroring the green invasion of their country during last
summer's finals when the Irish fans were so well received.

For much of the opening 45 minutes,
the Poles would have been delighted with what they saw as their side
dominated possession and created a series of opportunities to take the
lead.

However, it was Ireland who went in ahead at the break after Clark's strike gave then an advantage they scarcely deserved.

The game had been billed as an
opportunity for Trapattoni to take a look at some of his newer players -
John O'Shea and Glenn Whelan were the only members of the initial XI to
have started a game at last summer's finals - and accordingly, striker
Conor Sammon was handed a senior debut while young wingers Robbie Brady
and James McClean were given chances.

However, it was 33-year-old goalkeeper
Forde, preferred to Keiren Westwood because he is playing regular first
team football for his club Millwall, who had the chance to shine during
the first half.

Poland were simply too slick for
Ireland in the middle of the field as Jakub Blaszczykowski and Daniel
Lukasic provided the ammunition for Borussia Dortmund striker Robert
Lewandowski to threaten repeatedly.

Forde survived an early scare when he
scuffed a clearance straight to Ludovic Obraniak and looked on
gratefully as full-back Paul McShane deflected the ensuing shot wide.

Take that: John O'Shea (right) goes in hard on Poland's Robert Lewandowski

On the move: Lewandowski, right, tries to get past Republic of Ireland goalkeeper David Forde

But from then on, he turned in an assured display as Lewandowski set about the task of trying to give his side the lead.

He perhaps should have done just that
with 29 minutes gone when he was played in behind the home defence and
ran in on goal. But Forde stood tall and when Lewandowski finally pulled
the trigger, the keeper blocked with his legs.

The hosts took a shock lead after
Clark climbed well to meet a left-wing corner. Although keeper Artur
Boruc palmed away his initial effort, the ball fell to the defender once
again in the midst of a goalmouth melee and he drilled a low shot into
the bottom corner.

Lewandowski tested Forde with a
scuffed volley three minutes later, but it was the men in green who
headed for the dressing rooms at half-time with something to defend.

They mind have had even more to smile
about within three minutes of the restart when James McCarthy send a
side-footed effort towards goal, only for substitute keeper Wojciech
Szczesny to make a fine fingertip save.

For all the Poles continued to enjoy
the better of the game, Trapattoni's men were making more of a fist of
it as they tried to hit the visitors on the counter.

They might have extended their lead
with 62 minutes gone when defender Damien Perquis sliced McClean's cross
straight to Sammon. He homed in on goal, but took a heavy touch as he
prepared to shoot and Szczesny pounced to intercept.

Poland could have dragged themselves
back into the game two minutes later when Arkadiusz Milik worked his way
into a promising position inside the Ireland penalty area. However, the
substitute tried too many dummies as he tried to tee himself up and
slipped and fell over.

The miss proved costly with 14 minutes
remaining when substitute Jeff Hendrick crossed for Hoolahan, who
controlled the ball on his chest before volleying past the helpless
Szczesny.

Perfect finish: Hoolahan's goal was steered in to the corner of the net